A Converged Network Adapter (CNA) supports Network Interface Card (NIC) functions and Host Bus Adapter (HBA) functions to provide I/O processing and connectivity to storage area devices via protocols, such as Fiber Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) and Internet Small Computer System Interface (iSCSI). A CNA is commonly implemented on a card with other features.
Examples of CNAs include the T4 ASIC design developed by Chelsio Communication, Inc., of Sunnyvale, Calif. The T4 (fourth generation terminator) is a highly integrated 10 GbE controller chip built around a programmable protocol-processing engine. It includes a Peripheral Component Express (PCIe) interface for a host computer system interface. On a network side, the T4 ASIC includes four Ethernet ports. Network Interface Card (NIC) offload processing is supported. Among other features, the T4 ASIC supports storage offload features for iSCSI and FCoE protocols.